Kyoto, Japan Dec. 23 Mon 4:13AM
Japanese Pickles
When you walk through the streets of Kyoto, you will come across many stores that sell vegetables like this.
These are called TSUKEMONO, meaning "pickled things". It has been a Japanese tradition to pickle all kinds of different vegetables and sometimes even fish to preserve it to last longer. They are sometimes called KOUMONO or OSHINKO, which all means the same.
There are different ways to make the tsukemono, and each have very unique flavors. They are pickled with ingredients that will bring out the best in each type of vegetables. Tsukemono is commonly served as a side dish in a meal, but in Kyoto, there are some resutaurants that serve tsukemono as a main dish.
In many of the tsukemono stores in Kyoto, they will let you try everything. Find your favorite and take some home! Most of them are very reasonable price, and in a small packages, so they are also very good for traveling and gifts as souveniors!